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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23889421">Sing My Little Lark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracetriestowrite/pseuds/gracetriestowrite'>gracetriestowrite</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Prodigal Son (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, My First Work in This Fandom, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Torture</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:54:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,852</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23889421</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracetriestowrite/pseuds/gracetriestowrite</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Malcolm Bright was many things. He was a very established and accomplished profiler, a brave (almost to the point of self sacrificing) friend, and not to mention an Ivy League graduate. Unfortunately, he was not very good at following directions. </p><p>***</p><p>In other words, Malcolm once again comes face to face with a killer and has to hope that his team figures out where he is before he becomes this killer's newest songbird.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gil Arroyo &amp; Malcolm Bright, Malcolm Bright &amp; Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright &amp; Edrisa Tanaka, Malcolm Bright &amp; JT Tarmel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It has been a while since I’ve last written for any fandom, but quarantine and also the emergence of this amazing show pushed me to finally pick back up an old hobby. Enjoy! And please be mindful of the tags!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Malcolm Bright was many things. He was a very established and accomplished profiler, a brave (almost to the point of self sacrificing) friend, and not to mention an Ivy League graduate. Unfortunately, he was not very good at following directions.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>It was a normal Monday morning for Malcolm. After getting less than the required amount of sleep that night he was itching to solve a murder. His phone rang just as he was beginning to wonder if he should call Gil himself and beg for a murder (to solve). As if on cue, Malcolm’s phone began to vibrate on his nightstand</p>
<p>“Hey kid, I think we’re going to need your help on this one.” Gil said over the phone as Malcolm raced out the door, sparing a quick ‘goodbye’ to sunshine before he started towards the precinct.</p>
<p>“Great! What do we have?” Malcolm asked, struggling to contain his (probably misdirected) excitement. </p>
<p>“It’s not a pretty one kid. We’re in Central Park, next to Bow Bridge, can you get here in 10?” Gil asked, presumably rubbing his temple in stress as he asked his profiler with a penchant for danger for help on another case.</p>
<p>“I’ll make it in 5.” Malcolm said, getting in his car and racing to go solve another murder, the horrors of last night’s dreams slowly fading into the deepest part of Malcolms concious. </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The first thing Malcolm saw when he got to the scene was Edrisa examining what appeared to be a young woman sitting deathly still on a park bench. Malcolm began walking over to see what Edrisa was doing, JT and Dani standing aside as they watched her work, when he was stopped by another cop. </p>
<p>“Excuse me, only authorized members are allowed at the crime scene.” the cop said, stopping Malcolm in his tracks. Malcolm looked at his name, Detective Moore. Malcolm had seen him around the precinct, but they had yet to share any words. </p>
<p>“Sorry Detective, but I’m the NYPD’s profiler, Gil- uh Detective Arroyo needs my assistance on this case.” Malcolm said, pushing past the detective and heading over to where Gil was waiting, seeming only to have just now realized the interaction between Bright and Moore. Moore just grumbled something about protocol as Malcolm made his way over to the body, a smile creeping its way onto his face.<br/>“Bright, has anyone ever told you you’re crazy? Especially with that smile over a dead body?” JT asked, his arms crossed and one eyebrow cocked. Malcolm just smiled at him.</p>
<p>“Morning to you too, Jake? Justin? Jaret?” Malcolm tried with a smile. JT just shook his head. His reply (mostly consisting of ‘not even close’) was quickly drowned out by Edrisa.</p>
<p>“Good Morning Bright! You look especially good today. Not that you don’t - uh - look good everyday!” she said, stammering as he looked at her with a smile.</p>
<p>“‘Morning Edrisa. Now what’s up with this case?” he asked, curiosity quickly enveloping him as he moved closer to the body, listening as Edrisa spoke.</p>
<p>“This guy right here was found a little bit earlier by some early morning joggers in the park. They waved to him and, upon noticing the lack of several responses, decided to investigate, only to be met with this.” Edrisa said, guestering to the body.</p>
<p>“Him?” Malcolm questioned, eyeing the yellow sundress, white camisole and floppy sun hat along with some killer shades the victim was rocking. Maybe too killer.</p>
<p>“Yes, despite the vic’s appearance, this is a male victim. He was killed around 8 hours ago and I’m guessing he’s been sitting here for around 7 of those 8 hours.”</p>
<p>“Interesting. What else do we have on the victim?” Malcolm asks, eyeing the way the body is positioned, almost as if it were leaning on a shoulder. The body had both hands positioned together in front of him. One was slightly outstretched, palm down, and the other was positioned so it was almost resting on the vic’s heart. Malcolm shot a confused look at Dani as Edrisa finished her report.</p>
<p>“That’s about it. Bruising around the neck suggests strangulation, as does the petechiae to the eyes and the swelling of the lips. We’re running a tox screen as soon as we get back to the lab.” Edrisa states as she finishes, puffing out her chest proudly.</p>
<p>“Interesting…” Malcolm says as he trails off, inspecting the body closer.</p>
<p>“What is it Bright? What do you see?” Dani asks, observing him as he works.</p>
<p>“Well for starters, this bruising pattern is wrong compared to most strangulation victims. You can see the bruises left by the killer's hand as he strangled the life out of them, but this was done laying down. The killer held the victim down as he strangled him, forcing him to look at him as he died,”</p>
<p>“Okay, so our guy likes to be up close and personal, likes to feel the life leave his victims, right? Then why did he take so much time posing the body?” Dani asks, prompting Malcolm to continue his findings.</p>
<p>“You’re right, this killer took extreme care of his victims after the murder.” Malcolm reaches up to the victims face and brushes some concealer onto his hands. “He even went as far as to do the victims make up and dress him up in this very particular way. Not to mention how difficult it would be to set this up in the middle of the park, no matter what time of day he goes, he’s taking an extreme risk for this scene.” Malcolm continues, studying the face as if he sees something wrong with it. </p>
<p>“What is it Bright?” Dani asks, stepping closer to examine the face with him. Malcolm reaches out to touch the cheek again, and presses in, his fingers stopping against something hard.</p>
<p>“Oh Jesus, yeah lets just touch all up on the dead guy.” JT says, his arms crossed as he watched Malcolm prod the face (gloved or not that was still gross). </p>
<p>“Hey Edrisa, did you open the mouth?” Malcolm asks, not wanting a repeat of the annihilator case with another snake stuck inside this man’s gullet.</p>
<p>“No, should I have? I’m sorry, do you need me to open it now?” She asked, rushing back over to where the team was still positioned next to the body. </p>
<p>“No it’s alright, I can do it.” Malcolm said as he reached for the man's jaw to open it. As if summoned by the feeling that his kid was about to do something very stupid, Gil looked over as Bright prepared to open the man’s mouth.</p>
<p>“Bright? What are you doing? You do remember the last time we had something inside of a vic’s mouth right?” He asked, pausing his interview with the joggers as he made his way over to where they were.</p>
<p>“Relax, I’m sure it’s nothing bad, I just think that there might be some evidence still inside the victim’s mouth.” Bright said, staring up at Gil with almost a childlike innocence as he moved to open the mouth farther.</p>
<p>“Just open it slowly, will you?” Gil said, his eyes not moving off of the reckless profiler. Malcolm slowly opened the man’s mouth and - nothing happened. No snakes that slithered out, no puff of white powder, nothing. All that was inside the mouth was a small blackbird, curled up and with a string wrapped around its neck. Malcolm reached for the bird as Edrisa motioned some of her people over to come bag the evidence when Malcolm noticed a note attached to the bird. </p>
<p>“‘Sing my little lark’?” Malcolm read as the crime scene technicians bagged the evidence. “What in the world does that mean? And also, that was most definitely not a lark, so this guy clearly isn’t a big bird watcher,” Malcolm said, standing up and Gil waved him over.</p>
<p>“C’mon Bright, we’ll know more at the lab.” he said, finishing up his work on the crime scene. Malcolm nodded a farewell to Dani, JT, and Edrisa (who returned the gesture with vigor) as he followed Gil back to the car. </p>
<p>The ride to the station was silent. Malcolm, coming down from his ‘ooo we have amurder to solve’ energy was beginning to replay those night terrors, and he wasn’t so sure he wanted to have people around him as he started to process them. Gil just shot a worried glance at Malcolm as they drove, not wanting to press the kid but also not wanting him to suffer in silence. Thankfully for both of them, the precinct was only a block away and Malcolm looked like he had started to get his profile gears turning, locking away his demons for another time.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Once back at the station, Malcolm began to piece together his profile, and tuck his memories back where they belonged. This killer shows acts of extreme aggression followed by a very caring, almost lover liker attention to the body to prepare it. He clearly has a ritual that he follows, and that bird. What is the significance with the bird? Malcolm became so lost in thought he barely heard JT come in.</p>
<p>“Bright! Edrisa finished her official report. It’s not good.” JT grimaces as Malcolm's head snaps up, looking at him almost concerned. Whatever it was must have been really disturbing for JT to say that.</p>
<p>“Okay, let’s go hear it from the woman herself.” Malcolm says, already headed out the conference room doors and following JT close behind. </p>
<p>When they arrive at the morgue Edrisa is buzzing about, marking in her file and examining the body, muttering to herself as she works. JT clears his throat, making their presence known. Edrisa’s head snaps up at the sound of that, her shock turning into a smile (and a slight blush) as she spots Malcolm.</p>
<p>“Just in time! I found some interesting details on our new vic.” She says, gliding across the room to the table where her file sat, notes written all over the papers inside. JT shoots Malcolm an ‘is she serious?’ look before both of them return their full attention to what Edrisa is saying. </p>
<p>“Ah yes! Our victim's name is Kyle Pater, 27. He was reported missing a week ago and, as you both know, we found him this morning, presumably after he was killed last night.” Edrisa says, pausing to laugh at herself and take a breath before she continues, “As indicated by the abrasions we discovered on both his wrists and ankles we can assume our killer held him for an extended period of time, perhaps a week or more. This was premeditated, and definitely not just a ‘heat of the moment’ thing. Well, the strangulation might’ve been a passion thing, but our killer here definitely took his time with the victim. Surprisingly, the victim was rather well fed and cared for, but we also can see extensive torture markings ranging from electroshock burns to your run of the mill cutting and, what I’m assuming, is whipping.” Edrisa said, moving around the body and gesturing to the marks. The poor man’s body was littered with them, ranging from shallow, almost paper cuts to long and deep gashes across his back.</p>
<p>“Thank you Edrisa-” Malcolm began to say before she cut him off.</p>
<p>“Oh wait, there is one more thing. Or I guess two more things actually. We did find needle marks on the victim's arm.”</p>
<p>“How do we know he wasn’t just a junkie?” JT asked, averting his eyes from the newest and bloodiest gashes that look like they had only just begun to heal. </p>
<p>“Well, I don’t exactly but Gil ran his file when he put the fingerprints in to try and get a match. This guy was squeaky clean, both with drugs and with crime in general.” Edrisa answered before continuing slowly. “We also found evidence of sexual assault,” she said before continuing, “We unfortunatly were unable to recover any DNA from the assault. We just found the bruises along his legs and inner thighs along with tears in his rectum.” she finished, closing the file and sliding it back onto the metal table.</p>
<p>“Thank you Edrisa for your help,” Malcolm said as his phone rang, it was Gil, “We need to get back to the station, but I will call if I need anything else!” Malcolm said as he answered the phone, turning around to head back to the station. Gil had barely finished his sentence when Malcolm’s face went white as he turned to JT, repeating what Gil had just relayed. </p>
<p>“We got two more victims.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How is that even possible?” Malcolm asked as he and JT raced to meet Gil and Dani at the newest crime scene. “Edrisa said that he keeps his victims for one week, and our guy was only killed last night.”</p><p>“I don’t know man. I mean- holding three people at once? That can’t be easy.” JT said, pulling into the lot where Gil had told them to meet him. Malcolm and JT practically jumped out of the car as they headed towards where Gil was standing, right next to two similarly dressed victims.</p><p>“Bright, JT, glad to see you here. Edrisa caught me up with what she found on the first victim on your way over here, and I’m assuming she’ll find something similar on these two,” Gil said, gesturing towards the bodies. Malcolm moved closer to inspect as JT examined the rest of the crime scene. Both bodies were seated inside of a car this time and both were dressed exactly like the first victim: sundress, cardigan, hat and shades. Malcolm once again observed the extreme care and detail that was put into posing these victims. Their hair was combed out,  makeup was applied, and their hands were positioned right over top of each other. It almost looked like just a normal couple on a date. </p><p>“Did you check for-”</p><p>“Any birds in their mouths? Already done Bright. There were two more, identical to the bird found in the first one.” Dani replied, glancing over from where she was speaking to the crime scene techs. “We’re having the techs figure out what kind of bird it is as we speak. The specific variety will be able to tell us more.” she said as she walked over to where Bright was still inspecting the bodies. </p><p>“Something just seems odd about these bodies..” Malcolm said as he trailed off, lost in thought.</p><p>“Oh so you mean besides the fact that our killer has left us three bodies in one day and plays dress up with them?” Dani asks, lightly punching Bright in the shoulder. He doesn’t move, just keep staring at the bodies like if he looks long enough, they will tell him what happened themselves. “Hey Bright,” Dani says, lowering her voice, “We’re going to get this guy, okay? Is everything alright with you?” she asked, concern creeping into the edge of her voice.</p><p>“Huh? Oh yeah, everything’s fine! Just peachy! 100%. No no, 110%!” Bright said, bouncing back onto his heels and snapping out of his trance. “I’ll meet you guys back at the conference room, I’m going to start putting together a profile.” He said as he left. Dani just glanced back at JT who looked equally concerned, albeit for different reasons than why Dani was concerned. </p><p>“We drove here together - did he just take my car?”</p><p>***</p><p>Back at the precinct in the conference room, Malcolm was doing what he did best, trying to emotionally relate to a serial killer. Three victims, all men in their mid to late 20s. All dressed in womens clothing. Although, only the victim that was found alone showed signs of sexual assault. The pair that were found only displayed signs of torture and extensive holding, although all three were killed the same way, strangled while being held down. The victim that was found first by the bridge was the newest, only being killed the previous night. The two found in a car in an empty lot were killed the night before last and, from the looks of it, had been sitting in that car for at least 24 hours. </p><p>Malcolm paced around the room, lost in thought. All of their torture marks looked almost…experimental. Another Surgeon copycat? Malcolm quickly pushed the idea out of his mind. No, there were way too many differences. The Surgeon never would have taken this much care with his victims (he certainly didn’t with the girl in the box). Malcolm was spiraling, but thankfully, Dani, JT, and Gil appeared to go over the case with him before he could become too lost in his own trauma again. </p><p>“Hey kid, what do we know?” Gil asked, sitting down at the head of the table, coffee cup in one hand and the case files in the other.</p><p>“Right. Okay, so we have three victims, all male in their mid to late twenties. The first victim that we found, Kyle Pater, was 27. He was a mechanical engineer for Aerotek here in New York. The second, Eddie Watkins, was 23. He was a student at NYU, finishing up his masters degree for finance and the third, Shaun Haynes, was 25 and worked for the Bronx Zoo. There has to be a connection in these victims somehow.” Malcolm said, stepping back to analyze their board again.</p><p>“Do we know where specifically Shaun Haynes works at the Bronx Zoo?” Dani asks. Gil flips through his files for a second before answering.</p><p>“Yeah, it says here that he works at the World of Birds in the Zoo.” Gil says, looking up at her.</p><p>“Maybe we should start there, that at least gives us the link to the birds. Do we know what kind of bird it is yet?” Dani asks, looking at Malcolm.</p><p>“Edrisa said it was a black rail specifically. It is a very elusive bird, which might speak to the captors state of mind.” Malcolm said, the gears in his profiler brain beginning to turn. “The black rail is one of the smallest birds in North America and, despite recent moves to increase its breeding in New York, continues to have a declining population.”</p><p>“Okay so how does the specifics of this bird help us to catch a serial killer?” JT asks, arms crossed over his chest. </p><p>“This might indicate that our killer is smaller in size, having to use some kind of sedative, consistent with the needle marks Edrisa found, to keep his victims compliant. Alos, notice how they were posed. The two that we found together looked like a couple, holding hands and leaning against each other. The one that we found solo looked like it was at one point propped against something or someone. What if that was our killer?” Malcolm said, his mind firing at a hundred miles a second as he worked to unlock the killer's pathology.</p><p>“How so, Bright?” Gil asked, looking up from the case files to listen. </p><p>“I think our killer might fall under the ‘family annihilator’ profile.” </p><p>“But these victims aren’t from the same family and we don’t even know if they knew each other.” JT said, waiting for an explanation.</p><p>“No, but what if our killer is trying to recreate a family that either he lost or he never had? Think about it. He wants to recreate his lost family by substituting the missing people for his victims. Only the one found last showed signs of sexual assault, the others only had marks consistent with torture and extending holding. Also, with the way that the first body found was posed, one hand outstretched and the other over their heart, almost like they were accepting a proposal, with our killer being the one who proposed.” Malcolm said, looking around the room.</p><p>“Okay, but what about the bird? Besides just being a reflection of our killer, why was it in their mouths, especially if he wanted them to ‘sing’ for him?” Dani asked, putting together the puzzle pieces almost as quick as Malcolm. </p><p>“Maybe he didn’t want them to say something? Or he wanted the last thing that they said to be a song for him? That part of the profile I’m still working on, but i think our next step should be talking to anyone who worked with Haynes at the zoo.” Malcolm said, looking to Gil for approval.</p><p>“I agree. Kid, you and Dani go to the zoo. JT and I are going to follow up on the other victims, see if anyone of them are connected.” Gil said, finishing up the last bit of his coffee as he stood up.</p><p>“Alright, let’s go Bright.” Dani said, grabbing her coat and heading out the door. Malcolm followed close behind as he tried to work out the symbolism behind the bird in the mouth. <br/>Maybe there was a deeper symbolism like with the girl in the box.</p><p>***</p><p>“Detective Powell here with Bright, a profiler with the NYPD. We’d like to ask you a few questions about Shaun Haynes?” Dani said, flashing her badge to the manager at the World of Birds exhibit. The manager was a short and stout man who looked to be balding at age 30. He nodded at her request and motioned for them to follow him as he went back to his office.</p><p>“Why does the NYPD want to investigate Shaun? He’s a good kid, got a real passion for these birds.” The manager, Mr. Gibbs, asked, motioning for them to take a seat in front of his desk. His office was small and cramped at the back of the exhibit. There were loads of scientific studies and other various papers piled around the room. </p><p>“I’m sorry to tell you this but-”</p><p>“He was murdered. We found his body this morning. Is there anyone here who shares in his passion for birds?” Malcolm cut in, causing Dani to shoot him a glare. Mr. Gibbs stuttered for a moment before answering.</p><p>“Oh my god… that's horrible.” he said, trailing off. Malcolm noticed a thin bead of sweat form on Mr. Gibb’s forehead, his hands clenching and unclenching under the desk.</p><p>“Is there anything you’d like to tell us, Mr. Gibbs? Was there anyone who seemed a little too interested in Shaun?” Malcolm pressed, trying to squeeze the truth out of the man. </p><p>“Oh, uh, well, uh…” the manager stammered, glancing between the profiler and the door which was slightly ajar. Dani noticed this reaction and moved to shut the door, turning back to the manager as the door clicked shut behind her. The manager glanced between her, Malcolm, and the door a second more before he answered. </p><p>“Okay, there is one employee who might fit, but I thought he was only acting super interested because of what happened these last few months.” Mr. Gibbs started, looking almost guilty as he told them this.</p><p>“Who is it? What happened?” Malcolm pressed on, urging the man to continue.</p><p>“I don’t think he could ever have hurt someone, much less Shaun. Shaun was like a son to him.”</p><p>“Who is it, Mr. Gibbs?” Dani pressed, equally as frustrated as Malcolm.</p><p>“Ralph Carter. He’s a good man, he’s worked here for the last several years, but he’s always worked multiple odd jobs to make ends meet, you know how it is. He’s a family man, but these last several months really broke him. His twin daughters were killed in a car crash around six months ago. Some college students got drunk and T-boned them at an intersection. The college kid got out alright, but his daughters were pronounced dead at the scene. I felt awful for the man, told him to take some time off, but he refused. He started working later and later, getting more and more invested in the birds, which is great and all, but I pressured him to take some time off.”</p><p>“Did he?” Dani asked.</p><p>“Yeah, but not much. I sent him home about a week ago one night, told him to take some time off and spend more time at home with the wife. He walked in on his wife having an affair with their neighbor, some engineering guy.”</p><p>“Wait, is this him? Kyle Pater?” Malcolm asked, showing a photo of the man to Gibbs.</p><p>“I couldn’t be sure but that name sounds familiar, he might’ve been the one. Why? Do you think Ralph is in danger?” Gibbs asked, looking up at the cops (well cop and profiler).</p><p>“No, but I think you might’ve just helped us solve this case. Do you know where Ralph might be now?” Malcolm asked.</p><p>“No, try his apartment. I have it here somewhere.” Gibbs said as he dug around his files, handing one of them to Dani with the correct information on it.</p><p>“Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Gibbs. Bright, let's go.” Dani said, pulling out her phone to let Gil and JT know where they were headed.</p><p>“Wait, there’s one more thing!” Gibbs called out before Malcolm could leave, Dani turned around to wait when Malcolm waved her on.</p><p>“It’s fine, just go! I’ll catch up in a minute. He may have something else useful for bringing Ralph in.” Malcolm shouted, urging Dani to go on ahead. Reluctantly, she nodded and turned around</p><p>“Call when you’re on your way there!” she shouted as she bounded down the stairs, already talking to who Malcolm assumed was either Gil or JT on the phone.</p><p>“What else is there?” Malcolm asked, turning around and stepping back inside the room to see what Mr. Gibbs was trying to grab out of the files. Malcolm leaned over to see what he was grabbing when in a split second he was knocked to the ground, the butt of a gun colliding with his jaw. Gibbs bounded over to the door and shut it, training the gun on Malcolm who was lying on the floor cradling his jaw. </p><p>“You can’t really be that stupid, can you?” Gibbs asked, the gun still trained on the slightly dazed profiler.</p><p>“Hey Gibbs, we can talk this out. What do you want? We aren’t looking to hurt you, we just need to bring Ralph in.” Malcolm said, turning over so he was on his knees and looking up at Gibbs, his jaw aching as he spoke. </p><p>“Oh you pretty little naive boy. I want you.” Gibbs said as he pulled the trigger, a dart colliding with Malcolm’s shoulder and injecting him with god knows what mix of sedatives. The dart gun clattered to the floor as Gibbs made his way over to Malcolm, pulling out thick coils of rope. Malcolm dropped to the floor, his body suddenly unable to move as his vision became darker and darker.</p><p>“Wait...Gibbs...you don’t have to do this.” Malcolm struggled out, protesting against the cocktail of drugs coursing through his body. Gibbs only laughed as he crouched next to Malcolm, grabbing his face and forcing him to look up into his eye.</p><p>“Oh Malcolm, you haven’t figured it out yet?” Gibbs asked as he began to tie the rope around Malcolm’s wrists and legs. Malcolm blinked darkness out of his eyes, his consciousness slowly slipping from grasp as he struggled to fight the drugs. “Just call me Ralph.” Gibbs sneered as Malcolm’s face contorted into a look of surprise before his consciousness finally left him. His head lolled backwards and smacked into the cement floor as Gibbs- or uh- Ralph, released him. The last thing Malcolm saw was Ralph hoisting him up onto his shoulders as he exited the room, heading towards the loading bay. With no one in sight, Malcolm was tossed into the cold back of the truck as Ralph peeled out of the lot, headed for god knows where.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter starts to get into some darker things. Please be mindful of the tags and thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Memories of the girl in the box and the damned camping trip swirl in Malcom’s mind as the sedatives hold him under. He’s 10 years old again, drugged out of his mind and in a remote cabin with not one but two accomplished serial killers. He has the knife in his hand, plunging it into John’s chest. No wait, it was Malcolm. He’s back underneath his house, chained to the floor. He’s clutching his chest, his blood coating his fingers and staining his dress shirt. He only has one way out, to break his own thumb. The wound on his chest continues to ooze out blood as he grabs the hammer. There’s so much blood. Why can’t he wake up? Why can’t he escape? Why-?</p>
<p>Malcolm suddenly jerks awake, his heart racing in his chest and his eyes fighting the last of the sedatives in his bloodstream to stay awake. Malcolm isn’t sure how long he was out for. His memory of the last several hours is hazy at best as he tries to shake off the terrors sleep holds. He remembers Mr. Gibbs, or more accurately, Ralph Carter, dosed him with a cocktail of sedatives, one of which finally did the trick and knocked him out. Now he was here. Wherever here was. </p>
<p>Blearily, Malcolm gazed around the room. He was in a dark room. It smelled musty and earthy so Malcolm assumes that means they are underground somewhere. Weakly, he pushes himself up off his chest so he is resting on his knees. He moves his hand only to find thick manacles wrapped around each wrist anchoring him to the cold concrete floor. </p>
<p>Focus.</p>
<p>First step: where is he? The room is mostly dark. There is light filtering in from under a door on the other side of the room, but besides that it is completely dark. Malcolm tries to stabilize his growing fear as he glances around the room and the lack of escape opportunities. How long before someone notices he’s missing? Will anyone notice? No, Dani has to, he is pretty sure he hasn’t had the chance to call her yet from his position on the floor.</p>
<p>His thoughts are cut off by the sound of the locks clicking and unlocking as the door swings open. In walks Ralph, carrying a construction grade light with him. He sets it down near the wall, plugging it into the outlet. Almost instantly, the room is flooded with light. Malcolm winces and has to turn away from the light to protect his sensitive eyes which had started to adjust to the darkness. </p>
<p>“Hello Malcolm.” Ralph says, pacing around him like a predator paces around his prey. Malcolm straightens his posture. He will not look weak or scared in front of him, that’s exactly what he wants. </p>
<p>“Ralph. Why am I here? Why did you take me? Why-” Malcolm asks before he is cut off by Ralph.</p>
<p>“Shhh, so many questions! Now Malcolm, you and your little friends with the NYPD found my first set, but I’m going to be honest. I think I like killing more than I realized. There’s just a rush when you feel the life leaving their body. You understand, don’t you? What, with being your father's son and all.” Ralph taunts, flashing him a grin as he stops his pacing in front of Malcolm. Malcolm shoots him a dirty look from his position on the floor. He is about to counter what Ralph said when Ralph suddenly grabs his face, twisting his head so he is looking up.</p>
<p>“Malcolm Bright, the profiler,” he sneers, lifting Malcolm into an uncomfortable position above the ground. “Do you know why I started killing? What broke me?” he asks. Malcolm only looks at him confused.</p>
<p>“You told us yourself. Your daughters were killed in that car crash, your wife cheated on you with Kyle, the engineer and one of your victims. You are a family annihilator. Creating the very family you crave only to kill them all. I’m assuming you want to restart that process, somy only question is what role you think I’m going to be filling.” Malcolm says, staring Ralph in the eyes as he speaks. He might be chained to the floor in a dirty basement, but he still has his best weapon, his words.</p>
<p>Ralph sneers at him and shoves him back to the ground. Malcolm, unprepared for the sudden change, hits the cement with a thud, hissing out in pain as his shoulder collides with the floor.</p>
<p>“You have half of it right, Mr. Profiler. Sure, I guess I wanted my family back. I just wanted my daughters back and I wanted my life to love me again. But that was before…” Ralph said, trailing off.</p>
<p>“Before you discovered how much you like hurting others.” Malcolm finished. Ralph shot him a gleaming smile, the shadows making his face look almost inhuman. Like he was finally resembling the monster on the outside that he was on the inside.</p>
<p>“Exactly! Now, dear Malcolm, let's have a little fun. You can finally see me in action, and I can see how much it takes to break you.” Ralph said, striding over to a table Malcolm just realized was in the room. The table was littered with an array of knives and other various weapons. The most notable to Malcolm being a car battery and some jumper cables. </p>
<p>Ralph picked up an especially sharp looking knife. It’s tip was curved ever so slightly. Ralph messed with it for a bit before turning back to Malcolm.</p>
<p>“Let’s get started, shall we?”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>30 minutes.</p>
<p>It took Dani a half hour to question why the profiler had yet to contact her to let her know where he was. Sure he was eccentric and often did things on his own, but he wouldn’t just refuse to check in. He didn’t. </p>
<p>After Maloclm had called on for her to go ahead, sure she was skeptical at first. I mean, after the whole ‘kidnapped by the junkyard killer’ thing happened, Dani was rather reluctant to leave Bright alone with a suspect, for his sake and her own. But Gibbs didn’t seem to be threatening. If he was, Dani was confident that Malcolm could fight his way out. Malcolm isn’t as helpless as he seems, Dani reminds herself as she waits in the car outside the building, still reluctant to leave even after Malcolm had assured her it was fine.  </p>
<p>30 minutes came and went without so much as a peep from Bright. Dani watched the cars around her drive past as the minutes ticked by. Most of the cars seemed to just be guests of the zoo coming and going. Dani did notice a white truck speed out of the lot, but didn’t pay much attention to it otherwise. Probably just a worker anxious to get home. Speaking of which, where in the world was Malcolm.</p>
<p>Her fears were only further increased when around the 45 minute mark of waiting for the profiler (and another 15 minutes away from storming the place herself to look for him) Gil called.</p>
<p>“Carter’s not here.” Gil said, frustration evident in his voice.</p>
<p>“What do you mean he’s not there? He fits the profile perfectly.” Dani said, worrying creeping into her stomach.</p>
<p>“Ralph’s not here, but we did find another victim.”</p>
<p>“Who?”</p>
<p>“The manager of the park, Thomas Gibbs.” Gil said. Dani’s heart dropped.</p>
<p>“That’s not possible. Malcolm and I just spoke to Gibbs. He - he was the one who pointed us towards Ralph. He-” Dani said, wondering what kind of trouble they just got into.</p>
<p>“We found his ID on him although he’s only in his underwear. We’re not sure where his clothes are.” Gil said, Dani just froze. “Dani? Are you alright?” Gil asked, hearing nothing but silence on the line.</p>
<p>“I left Malcolm alone with him….” she said quietly, guilt building at the back of her throat.</p>
<p>“What was that Dani? Where is Malcolm?” Gil asked, concern seeping into his voice.</p>
<p>“Ralph impersonated Gibbs when we talked to him. He had on his nametag and clothes so we just assumed it was him. When we turned to leave he told Malcolm that he had something to tell him. Malcolm told me to go on ahead, so I did. Oh my god I left him.” Dani said, her voice wavering as she spoke.</p>
<p>“Hey Dani, it’s alright. Everything about this guy says that he most likely took Malcolm somewhere. We will get him back, I promise.” Gil said, already handing out instruction to whoever was near him over the phone. “Wait for backup before going back inside. JT and I will meet you there.” Gil said, Dani barely registering his words as she started to race back inside, hoping she would find Malcolm there still.</p>
<p>“I’ll call you with what I find.” Dani said, hanging up before she could hear Gil protest. She didn’t care if she was disobeying orders, she had to find Malcolm.</p>
<p>She raced inside and back up the steps to the back of the exhibit. When she reached the manager’s office she wasted no time in storming through the door. Gun raised she marched in, sweeping the small, cluttered room in one look. Instead of being met with the profiler's usual smile, his blue eyes staring up at her as he spoke, she was met with nothing but an empty room and a growing feeling of despair.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“How does that feel, whore?” Ralph shouts, taking his knife and slicing it again across Malcolms back. Malcolm let out a grunt of pain as he struggled to keep his sobs in, refusing to break for this psycho. Malcolm tried to focus on his breathing as Ralph attacked him again and again, creating deeper gashes the angrier he got.</p>
<p>At first, Malcolm tried to protest. He tried to talk him down from all of this, tried to convince him to just let Malcolm go. Of course he knew it was never going to work, but he had at least hoped to humanize himself in the eyes of this monster. But Ralph was never going to listen to compassion. He had a mission and nothing was going to get in the way of that. Almost like - Suddenly, Ralph grabbed him by the hair, forcing his head up to listen as he spoke. Malcolm could feel the blood drip down his back from his injuries as he was jerked up off the ground.</p>
<p>“C’mon, don’t be shy, boy. No one will ever find you, so feel free to scream as loud as you want.” Ralph sneered before pushing him back into the concrete. Malcolm’s nose collided first, streaming out blood as he hit the floor. This made Malcolm let out a small cry of pain, his tolerance finally being met. At the sound, Ralph broke out into a smile, grinning ear to ear as he raised his hand to continue enacting out his rage.</p>
<p>“Wait, please Ralph,” Malcolm tried once more, regardless of how futile, “I’m not your wife. I didn’t cheat on you. Please just let me go. My name is-” He was cut off by a quick boot to the head. It collided with his jaw, still sore from earlier and his nose which was most definitely broken now. Malcolm jerked to the side from the action, searing hot pain tearing through his back as he rolled over onto the fresh wounds. Malcolm let out a scream, only earning another boot to the stomach. Tears pricked at the corners of Malcolm’s eyes as all of the air rushed out of his chest. His voice seemed unable to cooperate as he let out a silent scream. </p>
<p>“Dogs should only speak when spoken too. I told you to scream, not speak. And I also told you that you were my wife now. Don’t like the role? Then ask her to take it back!” Ralph screamed, enraged as he grabbed Malcolm by the hair. Releasing his chains from the ground and with a knife pressed firmly to Malcolm’s throat, Ralph dragged him to the opposite corner of the room. The darkness made it impossible to see anything. Suddenly, Ralph reached out and flicked one a switch Malcolm didn’t know the cellar had. A fluorescent light beamed on and Malcolm was face to face with a dead woman.</p>
<p>Malcolm screamed in shock and tried to escape from Ralph’s clutches, but Ralph only tightened his hold on Malcolm. In front of them was the decaying body of a woman. Malcolm nearly vomited all over her as Ralph forced him to be face to face with the woman. He could see blood pooling out from all points on her body. Malcolm held his breath around the actively decaying woman for as long as he could before he began to get light headed and had to take a breath. He inhaled the rancid smell of her decomposing and, this time, he actually did vomit. </p>
<p>“You see her, boy?” Ralph asked, glaring at the woman as he watched Malcolm get sick into her lap in morbid satisfaction. “This right here is Daisy, my dear old wife. When I came home and saw her in bed with another man, I lost it. I threw him out and just cried. She wanted to make up for it, so I suggested we come out here for a week, get reacquainted again.” Ralph paused to chuckle, a predatory glint in his eyes as he stared at the woman, Daisy’s, body. “That stupid bitch. I fucked her all week, even when she was begging me to just let her rest. I finally dominated her, like I should have in the first place. I wanted her to feel so bad about what she did, lying with another man. It was an accident at first. I was getting rough, she was crying again and I just clamped my hands over her throat and didn’t let go until I had finished.” Ralph said, almost sounding pleased with himself.</p>
<p>“You killed her…” Malcolm whispered, staring in horror at the man. Ralph only smiled.</p>
<p>“I did. I just couldn’t get over the rush in my body when I felt the life leave her eyes just as I was about to release. Her whole body tensed up, it was the best feeling in the world.” Ralph continued, talking about this atrocious act as though you would talk about a big hunt. </p>
<p>“So why men?” Malcolm asked, the horrors of the story and what this poor woman went through still settling on his mind.</p>
<p>“I’m a faithful husband. I could never touch another woman besides my wife, but I crave that feeling of release again. So, if I get to punish the whores like you who sleep with married men’s wives, then I call that a win-win situation.” Ralph said, spitting the words out as he spoke, almost unable to contain his rage.</p>
<p>“But I-” Malcolm tried to protest again. Ralph just glared at him before jamming the knife he was holding into Malcolm’s shoulder. Red hot pain shot through every nerve in Malcolms body as he screamed, falling to the floor at Daisy's feet. Ralph laughed as he grabbed Malcolm by the shoulder, jerking him back towards the center of the room. He reattached the chains to the ground before yanking the knife out of Malcolm’s shoulder, now slicked with blood. Malcolm could only stare in horror as he watched Ralph bring the knife up to his lips and lick it clean.</p>
<p>“Fear tastes good on you boy,” Ralph said, his hand moving lower to his now very noticeable bulge. Malcolm finally let a few tears slip down his face as Ralph approached, one hand still clutching the knife and the other down his pants, lazily beginning to stroke himself off. Ralph crouched down next to Malcolm who was frozen in place out of equal amounts of fear and pain. Ralph brough his face right next to Malcolm’s, his breath smelling of iron and his lips still red with Malcolm’s blood. Ralph crashed his face onto Malcolms, smothering him in a kiss. Malcolm’s broken nose only offered him small breaths of air. Malcolm began to struggle underneath Ralph, black dots beginning to crowd his vision. He could only feel the pace of Ralph’s hand quicken as he struggled.</p>
<p>Ralph finally released his lips from Malcolm’s as he straddled the younger man. Malcolm looked up in horror as he was pinned to the ground, his shoulder still burned with pain and ached with every movement. A fully erect Ralph slowly began to rut against Malcolms hips through their pants which were thankfully still on. Malcolm’s shirt was torn to shreds and did not help the animalistic look Ralph was giving him as he continued to gyrate against him to bring him off. Malcolm tried struggling briefly before he saw the pure amount of pleasure Ralph derived from the action. Malcolm decided it was better to just shut his eyes and wait for this to be over. </p>
<p>Ralph moved Malcolm’s arms above his head as his face crashed down on Malcolm’s again, his movements speeding up and becoming more sloppy as he neared finish. Malcolm began to panic when he felt one of Ralph’s hands begin to travel to his zipper. In a frenzy, Malcolm tried to buck him off once more. Ralph only groaned in pleasure and continued to undo his pants.</p>
<p>“Please, Ralph. Don’t do this.” Malcolm tried to plead between forceful kisses. Ralph just glared at him, lust and anger being the only recognizable things in his eyes. </p>
<p>“I will take what I want, when I want it.” Ralph said, discarding his own pants as he painfully slowly took off Malcolm’s. Ralph continued to just rut against his hips, underwear to underwear. The thin layer did nothing to hide Ralph’s erection and the sick feeling of it being rubbed up against him. Ralph only smiled coldly at Malcolm’s panic, savoring the taste of fear and power he held over him.</p>
<p>Ralph moved away from Malcolm’s hips and instead sat straight on top of Malcolm’s chest, constricting his breaths. He pulled his cock out from his underwear as he finished stroking himself off. With a grunt he released over Malcolm’s exposed chest. Malcolm just stared at the mess in horror.</p>
<p>“I have to have a little pleasure for myself early, but we’re going to save the main event for later, alright little lark?” Ralph said as he removed himself from Malcolm, grabbing his discard garments and surveying Malcolm’s shaking figure like it was a prize he had conquered. Ralph tossed Malcolm a rag and a roll of bandages before leaving the room with the instruction to ‘clean up’ and ‘don’t bleed out’. Malcolm just laid on the floor a minute more. The events that just transpired circulating through his mind. </p>
<p>For the second time today, Malcolm threw up. He rolled over and emptied everything that was in his stomach that he hadn’t already gotten rid of. He reached for the rag and wiped Ralph’s mess off of him before curling into a ball and sobbing. He let out everything that he was feeling, that he didn’t want to give Ralph the satisfaction of hearing, and he fell into a fitful sleep full of monsters both new and old.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading and the next chapter will be posted ASAP!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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